Physical Chemistry with Spartan Student Physical Chemistry Software [Hardcover]

Thomas Engel (Author), Philip Reid (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: April 9, 2006 | ISBN-10: 080533825X | ISBN-13: 978-0805338256 | Edition: 1

Physical Chemistry is a groundbreaking new book that explains core topics in depth with a focus on basic principles, applications, and modern research. The authors hone in on key concepts and cover them thoroughly and in detail - as opposed to the general, encyclopedic approach other books take. Excessive math formalism is avoided to keep readers focused on the most important concepts and to provide greater clarity. Applications woven throughout each chapter demonstrate to readers how chemical theories are used to solve real-world chemical problems in biology, environmental science, and material science. Extensive coverage of modern research and new developments in the field get readers excited about this dynamic branch of science. Fundamental Concepts of Thermodynamics,Heat, Work, Internal Energy, Enthalpy, and the First Law of Thermodynamics, The Importance of State Functions: Internal Energy and Enthalpy, Thermochemistry, Entropy and the Second and Third Laws of Thermodynamics, Chemical Equilibrium, The Properties of Real Gases, The Relative Stability of Solids, Liquids, and Gases, Ideal and Real Solutions, Electrolyte Solutions, Electrochemical Cells, Batteries, and Fuel Cells, From Classical to Quantum Mechanics, The Schrödinger Equation, The Quantum Mechanical Postulates, Using Quantum Mechanics on Simple Systems, The Particle in the Box and the Real World, Commuting and Noncommuting Operators and the Surprising effects of Entanglement, A Quantum Mechanical Model for the Vibration and Rotation of Molecules, The Vibrational and Rotational Spectroscopy of Diatomic Molecules, The Hydrogen Atom, Multielectron Atoms, Examples of Spectroscopy Involving Atoms, Chemical Bonding in H2+ and H2, Chemical Bonding in Diatomic Molecules, Molecular Shapes and Energy Levels for Polyatomic Molecules, Electronic Spectroscopy, Computational Chemistry, Molecular Symmetry, Nuclear Magnetic Resonance Spectroscopy, Probability, The Boltzmann Distribution, Ensemble and Molecular Partition Functions, Statistical Thermodynamics, Kinetic Theory of Gases, Transport Phenomena, Elementary Chemical Kinetics, Complex Reaction Mechanisms. For all readers interested in learning the core topics of physical chemistry.

Editorial Reviews

About the Author

Thomas Engel has taught chemistry for more than 20 years at the University of Washington, where he is currently Professor of Chemistry and Associate Chair for the Undergraduate Program. Professor Engel received his bachelor's and master's degrees in chemistry from the Johns Hopkins University, and his Ph.D. in chemistry from the University of Chicago. He then spent 11 years as a researcher in Germany and Switzerland, in which time he received the Dr. rer. nat. habil. degree from the Ludwig Maximilians University in Munich. In 1980, he left the IBM research laboratory in Zurich to become a faculty member at the University of Washington.

Professor Engel's research interests are in the area of surface chemistry, and he has published more than 80 articles and book chapters in this field. He has received the Surface Chemistry or Colloids Award from the American Chemical Society and a Senior Humboldt Research Award from the Alexander von Humboldt Foundation, which has allowed him to establish collaborations with researchers in Germany. He is currently working together with European manufacturers of catalytic converters to improve their performance for diesel engines.

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Philip Reid has taught chemistry at the University of Washington since he joined the chemistry faculty in 1995. Professor Reid received his bachelor's degree from the University of Puget Sound in 1986, and his Ph.D. in chemistry from the University of California at Berkeley in 1992. He performed postdoctoral research at the University of Minnesota, Twin Cities, campus before moving to Washington.

Professor Reid's research interests are in the areas of atmosphere chemistry, condensed-phase reaction dynamics, and nonlinear optical materials. He has published more than 70 articles in these fields. Professor Reid is the recipient of a CAREER award from the National Science Foundation, is a Cottrell Scholar of the Research Corporation, and is a Sloan fellow.

Product Details

• Hardcover: 1104 pages
• Publisher: Prentice Hall; 1 edition (April 9, 2006)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 080533825X
• ISBN-13: 978-0805338256
• Product Dimensions: 11.2 x 8.7 x 1.5 inches
• Shipping Weight: 5.4 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 2.1 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (18 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,508,557 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

1.0 out of 5 stars Difficult Chemistry Made Even Harder, February 20, 2008

By 

Marth (New York, NY) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Student Solutions Manual for Physical Chemistry (Paperback)

Let me begin by saying - I love chemistry. I love math. I'm a total nerd. But this book turned me off to both. Taking a year of physical chemistry is hard - but this book makes it even harder. This is the first year my professors have used this book, and I think it will be their last.

The key points aren't covered in detail. The math is overly complicated, and the problems don't hit the right points. I don't have a lot of P.Chem textbook knowledge, but there has to be something better out there.

I wouldn't recommend the text at all - but if you buy it, you ABSOLUTELY need the solutions manual.

11 of 13 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars worst book ever, March 5, 2006

By 

D. Nieport (bay area) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Physical Chemistry (Hardcover)

I've used half of the book now. The layout is not very organized. I found the graphical representations useful.

ok, 2nd semester in work. I'd prefer to downgrade this rating to negative 5 if I could. This book has turned into a major disaster. It is so riddled with errors...the derivations are never right. Everytime something doesn't work out right it's because the book is wrong. flat out.

This book gets my strongest disapproval possible. Buying this book is throwing away your money. Thanks engel. Thanks for all those hours lost trying to figure out what mistake I had make working out the derivations in this book only to find the book was wrong all along.

I'm still a little bitter about the false advertising when I got it...re: spartan software student copy that wasn't included.

7 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars This book makes Pchem utterly boring, August 9, 2007

By 

James J. Drinane "madscientist" (minneapolis, MN) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Physical Chemistry with Spartan Student Physical Chemistry Software (Hardcover)

I used this book for my pchem courses and found it to be completely worthless. While it does focus on computational crap that's not very important the first time around. The quantum chapters are pretty poorly done, and well the thermo stuff is just boring. All in all, I found this text to be useless. The derivations include many errors, and often are presented before the text introduces what they're trying to derive thereby further confusing you. You're better off not buying this book, unless you need for class, and buying one of the more used books like Levine's or Macquarrie's.